STARS at BLACKHAWKS

7:30 p.m. today (FSSW-Plus/1310AM The Ticket-96.7FM)

Storyline

Two of the biggest issues for the Stars at the beginning of the season were a losing record on the road and a losing record against Central Division teams. In the past two months, they have improved on both, going 9-2-2 in their past 13 road games and 4-2-0 in their past six against the Central. The Stars have a chance to sweep their season series against the Blackhawks tonight.

Key match-up

Patrick Kane vs. John Klingberg

Nobody has burned the Stars more than Kane, who has 52 points (24 goals, 28 assists) in 43 career games against Dallas. But Klingberg has fared well against Chicago, and could be a good match against Kane tonight. Klingberg, who leads all NHL defensemen in scoring with 50 points (6 goals, 44 assists), has tallied 13 points (1 goal, 12 assists) and is plus-2 in 16 career games against the Blackhawks.

Key Number

12-11-3

Once one of the most feared buildings in the NHL for visitors, United Center has been quite homey this year. The Blackhawks are 12-11-3 at home, 26th in the NHL. They are 0-4-1in their past five home games.

Notable

Dallas beat the New York Rangers, 2-1, Monday and is 31-19-4 (66 points), 12-11-3 on the road.

The Blackhawks lost to Calgary, 3-2, Tuesday. Chicago is 24-21-8 (556 points), 12-11-3 at home.

Ben Bishop is expected to start in net for Dallas. He is 22-14-3 with a 2.44 GAA and .919 save percentage. Bishop is 7-1-1 in his career against the Blackhawks with a 2.16 GAA and .928 save percentage.

Anton Forsberg is expected to go for the Blackhawks. He is 5-8-3 with a 2.94 GAA and .911 save percentage. He is 0-0-1 in his career against the Stars with a 1.85 GAA and .943 save percentage.

Marc Methot is out for Dallas. He has been battling a knee injury all season, but is practicing and could be back within the week.

Dallas is 8-10-0 against the Central Division, including 3-0-0 against the Blackhawks. Chicago is 6-7-2 against the Central Division, including 0-1-2 vs. the Stars.

Jonathan Toews has 42 points (15 goals, 27 assists) and is plus-9 in 42 career games against the Stars.

Anthony Duclair has 8 points (2 goals, 6 assists) and is plus-7 in seven career games against the Stars.

In 35 career games against the Blackhawks, Jamie Benn has 29 points (9 goals, 20 assists) and is minus-15.

In 23 career games against the Blackhawks, Tyler Seguin has 18 points (9 goals, 9 assists) and is minus-6.

In four career games against the Blackhawks, Remi Elie has 3points (1 goal, 2 assists) and is plus-3.

He said it

"All of us, quite frankly, live in a little bit of fear of the Hawks because we know they are capable of getting on a run and that scares us. That's why for us to put more distance between them and us is going to be a good thing."

-Stars coach Ken Hitchcock on facing a struggling Hawks team.

"That's how you play defense in the league. You can't back up, you can't counter-attack, you can't sit back in this league and expect to be a good defensive team. The only way you can do it is by how much time can you occupy in the offensive zone. The analytics we had, our numbers were showing us that we were spending a lot of time in the offensive zone and you thought if it kept trending that way that we were going to be good defensively. I think people look at it from an offensive standpoint, but as a coach, you look at as much time as you can spend in the offensive zone helps you become a good defensive team. That's what I was seeing early in the season."

-Stars coach Ken Hitchcock on how his team is lowering its GAA.

"We've got to stay with the game plan. That's the plan. We can't get frustrated because we are down one goal and we have to keep doing what we are supposed to do, and just keep working hard and stick to the game plan. That's the key."

"Empathize with Joel Quenneville? He can give me his rings all he wants. I don't give a damn. Competition's competition. He's had his day in the sun. He's a great coach, but you can't feel for anybody. Those are the things you do in the summer when you get together, you talk to a guy on the phone or when he's facing personal adversity. But during competition, it's you're in your own group and hope the other group fail like crazy."

-Stars coach Ken Hitchcock when asked if he empathized with Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville during a tough run in Chicago.

-Stars center Martin Hanzal on how the team won a 2-1 game against the Rangers Monday.

"I don't know what to say right now. It's pretty frustrating. I thought we played pretty good hockey at times, had a lot of good chances. Should be able to find ways to win games even if we give up two or three. It's going to happen. You know pucks aren't going in, got to keep finding ways to work for our bounces."